J&K: List of security personnel gunned down by militants this year

Son of SPO Kulwant Singh performs last rites of his father at Batgund village. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

As family members of SPO Kulwant Singh performed his last rites in Budgam village of Jammu & Kashmir on Monday, the J&K police have sustained scores of casualties in a strategy which indicates a new approach by militants in creating panic and fear in the state. Over 30 security personnel have lost their lives so far this year. This alarming trend is particularly accentuated in south Kashmir, which has sent one in every five police personnel recruited by the J&K Police in the last three years. Jammu and Kashmir director general of police (DGP) SP Vaid was removed from his post over the spike in the incidents of militancy in the Valley.

Here is a list of security personnel who were abducted and killed by militants

SPO Kulwant Singh, Nisar Ahmad Dhobi and Firdous Ahmad Kuchey

Kulwant Singh (35) was among the three police personnel abducted and killed by suspected militants in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday morning. Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo had purportedly claimed responsibility for the abductions in a 12-minute video. Along with Singh, the militants also killed Firdous Ahmad Kuchey (28), follower at Kakapora railway station and Nisar Ahmad Dhobi (38), a selection grade constable.

Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Territorial Army

A former Ikhwan commander who later joined the Territorial Army (TA) Malik was shot dead in south Kashmir’s Kulgam by suspected militants posing as reporters. He had come back home to mourn the death of his son, when militants fired at him from point-blank range at his home. Malik was a top commander of the Ikhwan, the government-backed counter-insurgency militia in the 1990s, before joining the Territorial Army. He was posted with 162 Battalion.

Muslim villagers arranged for the cremation of SPO Kulwant Singh who was killed in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday morning. Singh’s family is the only Hindu family at Batgund village. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

Mohammad Ashraf Dar, Inspector

Dar was killed by militants in his home in South Kashmir in August. Inspector Mohammad Ashraf Dar walked into his home holding his year-and-a-half old daughter, and saw the men holding his family hostage, he asked them to let them go, however they killed him. Narrating the ordeal, his wife Shela Gani said: “They took my phone and asked me where Ashraf was. I told them he had gone out for prayers and I don’t know when he will return. When he returned and was taken by the militants, I begged them to let him go. One of them kicked me and Ashraf began explaining something to them and within the next ten seconds, he fell.”

Fayaz Ahmad Shah

Fayaz Shah (34) had returned home in Kulgam for Eid and had been training following a promotion just five months ago. He was at local Eidgah with his daughter when militants tried to abduct him. When Shah tried to resist they shot him in the leg, but they failed to put him in the car they pushed him to the ground and fired bullets at him killing him right there.

Mohammad Yaqoob Shah

Shah, who too was with the J&K police, was killed when he was on his way to District Police Lines. His family narrated that masked men came out of a Maruti car and riddled his body with bullets. Police claimed to have established the complicity of militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen in the incident.

Naseer Ahmad Rather, CRPF

Rather was the first Kashmiri CRPF personnel to have been killed in the Valley while on leave in August this year. Militants stormed his house in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district Sunday and fired at him. He succumbed to his injuries at the district hospital, he was with the CRPF’s 182 Battalion.

Saleem Shah, Constable

Saleem Shah was abducted from his home at Mutalhama village in Kulgam. He was undergoing training at Kathua and was at home on leave. Police said that Shah was kidnapped on the intervening night of July 20-21 by suspected militants, after they barged into his house. He was allegedly taken to an unknown place before being killed. He had joined the force in 2016, and after completing his basic training, he was posted to Pulwama.

Javaid Ahmad Dar

Javaid Ahmad Dar, also at home on leave, was abducted from Vehil in Shopian in July. His body was found near a stream by local residents in Pariwan, Kulgam the next day. Dar was posted as the personal security officer to Senior Superintendent of Police Shailendra Mishra. His family said he never felt threatened or worried about his safety. Dar had returned home for a few days. He stepped out with friends just before dinner. On his way home, he stopped at a medical store, barely 50 metres from his house, when he was abducted and later killed. Dar joined Jammu and Kashmir Police in April 2012.